


Infinity

by spideypeach



Series: The Siren [3]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Apocalypse, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Endgame, F/M, Heavy Angst, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Post-Endgame, Precious Peter Parker, Song: This is the Day (the the), Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, dusting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:15:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27113167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spideypeach/pseuds/spideypeach
Summary: "only in the eyes of love can you find infinity." -sorin cerin.After a few weeks of mild crime-fighting, Lena Potts doesn't expect to be thrown back into the ringer. When a strange spaceship appears in the sky on her way  home from a field trip, her and Peter Parker leap into action, ready to play their role in saving the world. After months of nightmares about the planet Titan, she finally faces what could be the worst foe of all time.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Original Character(s), Peter Parker & Original Female Character(s)
Series: The Siren [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1165322
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

It was afternoon. The sun was high over the horizon of New York as a bus full of Midtown School of Science and Technology Students were carted from the Museum of Modern Art. The loud and boisterous sounds of the students sitting around Peter Parker and Lena Potts echoed off the scratched windows, but they paid no mind. Lena's head rested affectionately on Peter's shoulder, both of them sharing a pair of earbuds to listen to whatever 80s music Peter had decided to introduce to her this week.

The past few weeks since prom had been peaceful, other than the nightmares. They had been going on their routine patrols, fighting crime, saving New York citizens from burglaries, pulling cats out of trees, and even signing a few autographs. It was almost relaxing.

However the nightmares had only gotten worse, and Lena was unsure as to why. She used to be plagued by her sisters taunting her every night, reminding her of the so-called "betrayal" she had forced onto them. Now, every night, she found herself and Peter on a barren planet, alone. It was a strange state to be in, a menacing aura creeping around every corner. Every time she thought she found the origin of it, she would wake, body damp with sweat. During the nights that Peter was there, he would stroke her hair gently, reminding her that she was safe and everyone was okay, but something in her chest told her that this was not the case. Something larger than anyone was used to was slowly approaching. She was worried that it was a battle that not even the Avengers were ready for. Not that they had been in the best of shape, anyway. The Hulk had vanished years before she had even met Tony Stark. Steve Rogers seemed like a mirage of Tony's past, and without them left Clint Barton who seemed to have retired, and Natasha who appeared to have taken Steve's side. She had met The Vision and Wanda Maximoff once, but they had left recently to be on their own (a scheme that Tony was not too pleased with). Lena still was not certain of all the details, but it wasn't something she was too interested in. She knew her place in the scheme of saving the world, and it didn't feel like herself or Peter would be a part of it, despite her nightmares begging to differ.

Still, she had just witnessed some of the world's greatest art for the first time, having to hide the excitement from her fellow classmates who had grown used to the familiar museum. It was still an experience she got to share with the closest people in her life, and it had put a positive spin on her day. Her nightmare from the previous night's sleep had been especially grueling, and she hadn't had Peter there to calm her down. She had to swim in her pool for almost two hours before giving up on returning to sleep and getting ready for the school day ahead. Luckily, she didn't need that much sleep, to begin with.

She was about to comment on the song they were listening to when she sensed Peter's "spider-sense" jolt. The hair on his arms stood straight on its ends, and he turned to look out the window, where they saw it.

It was a spaceship. The first that Lena had seen, the second occasion that Peter had witnessed a foreign aircraft. It was circular in shape, and the word  _ doughnut  _ flashed across Peter's thoughts. Swiftly turning to her, he did not have to speak for her to know what to do next. With the parting of her lips, a sweet melody clouded the heads of everyone around her as Peter unlatched the window and leapt out, shoving his mask onto his face to hide his identity, knowing that he would need to take the time to adorn his full suit when he was not attached to the side of a moving bus. Lena followed his actions, not halting her singing, by latching her goggles over her eyes, and throwing on the new pair of gloves and boots that Tony had developed for her only a week prior. After the incident on the roof, they knew that she was going to need some sort of flight maneuver. She had spent almost every night in the training center, practicing her flight skills, sparring with Peter to incorporate her newfound advantage, and occasionally taking a midnight flight "test run." They just so happened to have seen this doughnut-shaped spaceship in the center of a bridge. Peter would swing his way into the city, while Lena would have to "Iron Man" her way there.

Peter offered her a hand out the window to assist her out of the vehicle, and once her torso was halfway out, she activated her repulsers to send her flying towards Central Park. She heard the subtle THWIP sound of Peter following behind her.

"Why do they think we're gone this time?"

"You never showed up at school. You are sick and Tony sent someone to pick me up at the museum upon getting notice of a foreign space object entering orbit."

"Genius, like always."

"It is why you love me."

"Contraction."

" _ It’s _ why you love me," she rolled her eyes from behind her goggles."

Landing near a bathroom in the park, the sound of metal clashing just yards away, they threw their bags onto the wall for Peter to web in place until they got back. They had just enough time to slide their suits on before they overheard the familiar, sarcastic voice of their mentor. Lena felt both of their heart rates pick up.

They made it just in time. A large, odd-looking creature was getting ready to slam a heavy-looking weapon onto Tony when Peter leapt in to block it. He made a quick remark to which Tony answered,

"Kids?" Tony was in his full suit, "Where did you come from?"

"Field trip. Coming back from MOMA-"

The last part of his phrase turned into a shriek as he was catapulted into a tree. Lena did not say anything, just nodded at Tony as she joined the action. She started to sing, turning the speaker volume in her suit up to its maximum volume, but even with that, she knew this creature was going to be difficult to trance. It was from outer space, and the amount of willpower it exerted was almost painful for her to attempt to get under control. When she finally felt the grasp from it, she felt the impact of a boulder hit her square in the chest.

"Hey! Not my kid!" Tony flung himself back at the creature, attempting to try and subdue it again. It looked a little woozy, just enough for him to get a good hit to the head in. Meanwhile, the air in Lena's chest had completely left her, and she heard herself wheeze when she inhaled. Singing would be off the table for the remainder of this battle. One of her best assets was rendered useless. She had been in this position before, and she did not like it. 

"What's this guy's problem, Mr. Stark?" Peter yelled as he webbed his way back into the action.

"This guy wants to steal a necklace from a wizard."

Something zipped by, the wind of it brushing through Lena's ponytail.

"Kids, that's the wizard, go get it!"

"On it!" Peter propelled himself in their direction, Lena following. It took her a moment to get to her feet, but she threw herself into the air to try and catch up with him.

Peter had attached a web onto the body of an unconscious, bearded man with a deep red cape, dangling from him like a spider hanging onto its thread. It was not the soundest course of action, so Lena took to landing on the wizard's tied up body, holding onto the metal restraints with every ounce of strength she had. She was about to snatch the large, gaudy necklace from his chest, but something stopped her. The man was unconscious, but she could still sense something on him.

There was no accurate way to visualize how people thought, but it varied depending on who she was reading. If she could somehow draw how this man's thought processes worked, it would look like an ancient script she had seen in some of the history books she had read. Everything that currently occupied his mind advised against trying to get that necklace without his consent. Something about a spell. She looked up at the creature, who still had yet to see her, and noticed a large burn mark on its hand. He had tried to go for the necklace and failed.

That was why he was dragging this wizard with him in the direction of the ship.

"Did you get the necklace?" she heard Peter's voice through their suits.

"No," her voice was hoarse from the prior impact, "I think the wizard has a...spell on it. It burned the hand of the creature trying to abduct him." 

"Spell?"

"It is the only word I have to describe it."

She thought they had a steady grasp on the situation, but she failed to realize that the creature had a trajectory, and they were following it closely. The doughnut-ship grew larger as they grew closer, and she could feel the way that a beam was threatening to vacuum her into it. Panicking, she let go of the wizard's body and tried to propel away, but she had already fallen into the beam, which was too strong to try and avoid. 

If she got any satisfaction from cursing, she would have done it then.

She felt something latch onto her lower back. When she turned around to look, Peter had strung a web onto her, trying to reel back both herself and the wizard to no avail. Every muscle in her body was on fire as she tried to get out of it, but it just was not working. 

"Kid, let go of the man and try to get Lena out of there," Tony's voice entered both of their coms.

"But you said to get the wizard!"

"And now I'm saying get Lena!" 

He dropped his web on the other man and attached another in between her shoulder blades, and while it was almost enough to get her out, she felt one web snap, the kickback causing the other to follow. She was flying into the doughnut ship, her body sailing without repercussion. 

She hit its ceiling first. Luckily, it was high enough for her to manage to obtain some sort of bearing, where she used her repulsers to lower herself onto the ground rather than crashing. For a minute of optimism, she thought that maybe the creature had not seen her yet, maybe she could hide to try and get a plan together to get out. 

Her optimism was not misplaced. Somehow she had not been seen. The creature had his full attention on the wizard and the green, glowing necklace. Quietly, she flew upwards into the rafters, desperately hoping that Tony would follow behind her for backup. While she was a much better "superhero" than she had been only a few weeks ago, she could not do this all by herself. It was too much bigger than her.

That thought sunk in. What if this was the nightmare?

It did not look like the barren wasteland she had been spending her nights in. It was a spaceship: darker, colder, and it actually had a strong force of gravity inside. It looked nothing like her dreams. Was she on her way?

She heard a comforting voice come from behind her, talking to someone. It was Tony, for sure, and by the way he was talking, she could tell he was ending a call with Pepper. Not voluntarily, the doughnut-ship had likely left Earth's atmosphere, leaving them stranded, contactless, to venture into space.

"Oh, good," Tony did not sound too pleased that he had company on this trip. 

"Where is Peter?"

"Contraction."

"Where's Peter?"

"Sent him home. Can't afford to put him in danger."

When Peter was not with them, she could sense it, and she knew that Tony was telling the truth, but it just did not feel like he had gone back. It was if he had never left, and now that the action had died down, she could clearly feel that he was nearby, even though that made no sense whatsoever. The creature below had taken to stringing the wizard up in midair, some sort of torture device a continuous threat. It was probably waiting to use it until the wizard was awake. 

"What are we going to do about-" Tony's voice was cut off by him whipping around and aiming his repulser at something Lena had not noticed. If it had been animate, she would have sensed it. Instead, she found the deep red cape hovering above the ground, acting as if it were a living being. Lena frowned, confused.

"Wow. You are one loyal piece of outerwear."

She sensed him then.

"Speaking of loyalty..." 

Peter hung upside-down, dropping down behind them. The sight of him brought a smile to Lena's face and a frown to Tony's. 

"What the-" she saw her father figure's face turn red.

"I know what you're going to say-"

"You should not be here." 

"I was gonna go home!"

"I don't wanna hear it." 

"But it was such a long way down and I just wanted to show you-"

"I don't wanna hear it!" 

"And then I kinda got stuck to the side of the ship and this suit is ridiculously intuitive by the way so if anything it's kinda your fault I'm here."

_ Wrong answer Peter, _ Lena said in his head.

_ I know,  _ he answered.

Tony's nostrils flared as he took a step towards Peter, "What did you just say?"

She could sense he was nervous, "I take that back," he paused, "And...and now I'm here in space."

"Yeah," he was fuming, "right where I didn't want you to be."

Tony got closer to Peter so that Lena would not hear exactly what they were saying, even though she knew he would relay it to her when they had a moment. 

Then they raised their voices again, Tony starting, "Don't pretend to have thought this through."

"I did think this through."

"No."

"I did think this through!" 

"You could not have possibly thought this through." 

"You can't be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man if there's no neighborhood."

They stared at each other, coldly, but Lena could hear the insecurity in Peter's declaration. 

"Okay, that didn't really make sense but you know what I'm trying to say. And also...Lena was up here." 

Tony inhaled, long and slow. Lena still had trouble reading him, but she knew that he was accepting the situation at hand. There was no way for him to change what Peter had inserted himself into.

"Come on, you two, we have a situation."

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

“See him down there?” Tony pointed to the wizard, who was now awake and groaning in pain, the creature probably taunting him quietly. “He’s in trouble. What’s your plan, Peter. Go.”

“We could-” Lena started.

“Lena, sh.”

“But-”

“I value your contributions greatly, but for Peter to understand the severity of the situation he needs to make an attempt to solve it.”

“Okay, um,” he crouched down, looking like he was trying to get a better view.

Lena felt an idea pop into his head.

“Okay. Did you ever see this really old movie  _ Aliens?” _

Tony sighed, “God.”

“No! No listen!” he stood back up, more confident, “You, Lena, and the...cape get...whatever that is...its attention, right? Then you blast a hole in the side of the ship. The vacuum of space will pull it right out, I make sure the wizard doesn’t fly out with him, and then…” she could tell he had only thought that far ahead, but luckily one of the world’s most intelligent people was in their midst. 

“I can patch the hole with this new nano-tech I’ve got going in this suit.”

“Yeah, yeah! That’s-that’s exactly what I was thinking.” 

“No it wasn’t,” Tony had now sighed more times than Lena could count, “Okay. Not bad. Let’s do it.” 

“Wait, really?”

“Yes, really. Are you ready?”

“Y-yeah I’m ready.”

“Lena,” Tony looked at her, she could almost see the stress reverberating off his person.

“Yes.” 

“Cape?”

The top of the cape did a nodding-like motion, making Lena question if it was actually sentient. It should not have been something she was so worried about, the impending doom of being in outer space being pretty high up there, but the non-quivocal question of the sentience of garment of clothing. 

_ Can you sing?  _ Peter asked her.

_ I got the wind knocked out of me earlier, but I think I'm fine now. _

"Lena stay right next to me. Peter, when deformed squidward turns around, land right by the wizard so that you're ready to web him."

With as much stealth as they could manage, Lena followed Tony over to behind where the creature was continuing to torture the wizard. When they got close enough, hovering slightly above it to give themselves the high ground, she could barely hear him explaining how the needles he was using was used in the medical field, but then he stopped.

The creature turned around slowly, staring at them, unbothered.

"I could end your friend's life in an instant."

"I gotta tell you, he's not really my friend. Saving his life is more of a...professional curtesy."

"You'll save nothing. Your powers are inconsequential compared to mine."

"Yeah, but, the kid's seen more movies."

Lena watched as Tony blasted a hole in the right side of the ship, everything swinging into motion as the vacuum of space attempted to suck their bodies into oblivion. The creature flew out first, almost followed by Lena if Tony hadn't grabbed her by the torso as she was dragged away. She was so focused on everyone around her that she hadn't remembered to aim her repulsors away from the vacuum.

"I gotcha," Tony grunted.

Peter had the wizard held by a thread, metal, arachnoid legs that extended out of a nanotech suit that she had not had time to even acknowledge. She figured it was a safe bet that Tony had built her a nanotech suit at home. Ever since they had joined forces as a crime-fighting duo, their new suits tended to complement each other. It was a shame she had been forcefully pulled into a massive spaceship before getting a chance to use it.

Once Peter had gotten the wizard back through the hole with a hefty leap, Tony patched the hole, the vacuum disappearing, and Peter swinging down into a landing. The wizard, apparently equipped with a way of hovering, gently landed in front of them, looking unimpressed as he approached the group saved his life.

"I don't think we've officially met," Peter was introducing himself to the cape. It did not respond, just falter for a second before affectionately returning to its owner's shoulders.

"Cool," Peter deflated.

Lena grabbed his hand and they made their way over to where Tony and their new companion were obviously bickering.

"...Unlike everyone else in your life, I don't work for you," the tall, bearded man shot.

"Yeah, and due to that fact, we are now in a flying doughnut, billions of miles from Earth, with no backup,” Tony reciprocates the cold attitude.

Peter lifts his and Lena’s interlocked hands, “We’re backup.”

“No. You two are stowaways. The adults are talking.”

The other man looked at the two of them, and Lena could sense the confusion on him, “I-I’m sorry I’m  _ confused  _ as to the relationship here. W-what are they? Your wards?” his tone was incredulous.

“No,” Peter said with certainty, “I’m Peter by the way, and this is Lena.”

“Doctor Strange.”

“Oh! We’re using our made-up names. I’m Spider-Man then, and she’s The Siren.”

Lena hung her head in disappointment. Peter was on a roll with making a fool of himself on this adventure. When she looked up, Doctor Strange was finished with the conversation and turned back to Tony.

“This ship is self-correcting its course. It’s on autopilot.”

The pair watched as the two men continued to bicker, but Lena knew that Tony had an idea that the doctor was not going to like. They were quiet, she could not quite hear exactly what they were saying to each other. Eventually, they were whispering harshly again, faces inches away. Their conversation concluded, Tony somehow getting his way, and she stared at him as he approached them.

“Kids,” he tapped his hand on each one of their shoulders, “congratulations, you’re avengers now.”

Tony stalked off in the way that he usually did when he was stressed, resting his hands behind his head, taking steady, deep breaths. It was a ritual that was well practiced. During the rare moments that he took the time to share himself with her, she knew that he had a history of raging anxiety. Some people worried, but people like Tony had physical symptoms to accompany that worry. After years of practice, he had calming himself down to a science, just like most things in his life.

“What did he say to Tony?” Peter said quietly.

She looked over to Dr. Strange, who was examining the mechanics of the control board to the ship. He was not completely closed off to her. His energy was open in an odd and ancient way. She had not encountered someone like him before, but she had a feeling her sisters had. She tried to search his mind for any indication of the conversation that they had, but right when she was getting to finding something, Dr. Strange looked directly at her with a menacing glare. He was not too fond of her digging through his mind.

“He does not...doesn’t want me to go through his head. They’re taking the battle to...to the enemy. I cannot get his name, but he also said that…” 

She looked back over to him, he was still glaring at her. She returned it.

“What?” Peter wanted to know what she had seen.

“He said that if it comes between our lives and the stone, he has to protect the stone.” 

She looked back at Peter, who looked a little baffled.

“So much for ‘do no harm.’”

He was referencing the vow doctor’s take. She had read about it after engulfing herself in a medical drama that some of the girls at school seemed to be obsessed with. 

“That stone...it has to be important. Or powerful. It feels really ancient, even older than my species.” 

“That’s old.” 

They took to lying down on the ground, staring at the ceiling of the large ship. Every so often they would give exchanges in the privacy of their heads, but it was not too long until Peter drifted into sleep. It had been quite the day, and on more than one occasion there had been a threat to their lives. If Lena experienced exhaustion in the same way that he did, she would have slept too, but instead she cradled his head in her lap and sung to him, hoping to give him a dreamless sleep rather than the mutual nightmare of that ugly, barren planet.

It did not work.

He awoke, sitting straight up, and she already knew what he was going to say before he spoke.

“It’s coming. We’re on our way there.” 

She shifted so that she was facing him, “Are you sure?”

“You know I’m sure.” 

She did, but she did not want the confirmation. The nightmare was coming to fruition and there was nothing they could do. They did not even know what waited for them on that planet. The dream had never included Tony or Dr. Strange, which meant that the enemy could be any level of dangerous. 

Tony knew, at least vaguely, what they were up against, but he was intentionally hiding it from her. Standing, she kissed Peter’s head and walked over to wear Tony was gazing out the window at the vast universe, the sea of stars. She stood next to him, looking out there with him. It was breathtaking and terrifying. 

“What’s his name.”

“Nice contraction.”

“Tony.”

He looked down at her, he was trying to hold back tears, and succeeding, “I really wish you two weren’t here.” 

“His name.” 

“Thanos.” 

A piercing headache collided in her skull. She knew that name. She had encountered that being. He had journeyed to Earth long before humans had existed. She searched the database of memories that were not hers, but shared with her sisters, for some kind of significance, or some sort of reason that his name had suddenly made her feel physically ill.

_ Sisters. Do you hear me. _

Tony was staring at her while she waited for a response. She was so far from Earth, she was not sure if they would hear her. 

_ Half-breed. It had been quite a long time since you have spoken to us,  _ the layering whispers made her heart beat a little faster. They still brought anxiety to her, despite that she had not seen or interacted with them since she asked them to leave her alone. 

_ Who is the being Thanos. _

_ The Titan. The father. _

Her breath caught,  _ what?  _

_ Thanos created us. Do you not recall the story of origin? _

_ I have not wanted to. _

_ Traitor. _

_ That’s all I need. Thank you. _

She put up the mental block again, silencing them. Speaking to them was traumatizing enough. She did not need the reminder of their hatred for her. 

“Lena.”

“He created us.”

“Us?”

“ _ Seiren.  _ They...called him the father.” 

“W-what?” she did not recall a time she had seen Tony so visibly shaken. 

“The father. The  _ father, _ ” her mind was spinning. All the work she had done to accept herself, the fact that she was not fundamentally evil. She had drilled herself in reminders that she was a good person. The way that Tony felt about Thanos, though almost diminished it.

“Lena,” Tony leaned over so that he was eye-level with her, taking her by the shoulders, “you are not defined by your origin. My father was a royal asshole, and now we know that one of yours was too. It doesn’t matter. You have helped so many people, Lena, and you’ll help save the world from Thanos along with us.”

She had not noticed when she started crying. She could feel Peter’s eyes on her as Tony pulled her into a hug.

“Do not deprive yourself of who you actually are.” 

“We’re approaching the planet,” Dr. Strange was beckoning them to come to the control panel. 

They all carefully watched as they entered orbit, followed by a descent into the planet’s atmosphere. As their velocity increased, it became clear that the autopilot did not extend to landing. Tony shouted orders at Peter for assistance, something about the controls being made for a “big guy” so they had to do everything they could to act as one entity. 

It was painful to watch them, but they got the best handle on it that they could. With a pristine amount of focus, the ship crash-landed into the ground, the floor rumbling underneath them. When they got their bearings, they were quiet, unsure if they should get off the ship and onto the planet, or attempt to get some sort of plan on the table.

Peter descended from a part of the ship, hanging upside-down, imitating a spider, "Let me just say, if aliens wind up implanting eggs in my chest or something and I end up eating on of you guys, I'm sorry."

Tony was exasperated and exhausted, "I don't wanna hear another single pop culture out of you for the rest of the trip, you understand?" 

But Lena knew what Peter meant. It was a strange way of attempting to notify them that there was something strange nearby, and it was bug-like in a different way that he was. She thought it might be alone, but then she sensed the others.

"He is trying to say that something is coming."

As soon as she had said it, something rolled at their feet and exploded, sending them flying in different directions. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. Chapter 3

The small explosion is followed by chaos. Lena knew that the threat was manageable, but she still groaned in pain as she lifted herself to her feet. This would be the second time that something knocked her over. Thankfully, this time she did not lose her singing capability.

It was hard to discern exactly what was happening. She heard a man's voice bellow Thanos's name. She felt the sort-of-alive cape zip past her face, and her attention was caught by the strange woman chasing after Peter. He was whimpering another reference to the movie  _ Alien  _ when Lena collided with her, knocking her over to the ground. They rolled a few feet until Lena had her pinned.

She was a strange woman; large, buggy eyes, two antennae extending from her forehead. When trying to read her, she felt it go both ways, as if someone was sifting through her head as well.

“You are scared, terrified. Not of us, but of yourself. You fear that he knows the truth, and he will not love you anymore,” she had a small, timid voice, and she spoke bluntly in a way that angered Lena. Why was this creature declaring her most inner thoughts? Did she have no discretion? Did she not notice that they were adversaries?

Lena never acted out of anger, but when the bug-lady pointed out that she was becoming angry, Lena punched her, right in the face.

“All right everybody stay where you are…chill the F out!” she heard a voice shout.

They were at a standstill. A discolored, muscular man was under Tony’s foot, a human male with an odd-looking helmet had Peter in a headlock, a gun pointed at his head, and Dr. Strange had a strange orange shield separating himself from the group, but still ready to attack.

“I’m going to ask you this one time,” the male removed his helmet, “Where’s Gamora?”

“I’ll do you one better, _who_ is Gamora?” Tony struck back quickly.

The blue and red colored being decided to speak up at Tony from under his foot, “I’ll do _you_ one better! _WHY_ is Gamora!”

His confidence in the question was very misplaced.

“Tell me where the girl is, or I swear to you, I will French-fry this little freak.”

“NO!” Lena found herself shrieking before she could stop herself, but she did not take her weight off the bug lady. She was calling herself Mantis.

Their opponents looked at her, confused.

“She is in love with him-“

Lena raised her fist for another blow.

“Woah! Lena no need! No need!” Tony said, “You wanna shoot my guy, fine! I’ll blast him,” he powered up whatever odd weapon he had manifested from his suit.

“Do it, Quill! I can take it,” the gruff voice had more misplaced confidence. Lena was starting to notice that as a pattern, but looking further into him she could practically see his entire life. The guy was an open book. An open book whose name was Drax.

No, it was Drax the Destroyer. This day kept getting more strange.

“No, he can’t,” Mantis said.

“You’re right, he can’t,” Dr. Strange felt the need to add to this conversation, apparently. 

It continued, the back and forth. There were more sarcastic comments, Tony got more exasperated with the obvious ignorance and stupidity around him. Lena stopped herself from punching Mantis one or more times. When they all finally got to the consensus that they were on the same side, grips loosened, Peter lifted Lena off of Mantis, and they started going about their business in different ways.

“What happened to you over there?” Peter had pulled her aside where they could not be heard.

He knew what had happened. Every ounce of them was connected, he already knew that Thanos had created the _seiren,_ he knew how it made her feel, he knew what Mantis had said to her, and how the anger had festered, releasing in a violent blow that she would not have given in any other circumstance. He just wanted her to express her feelings out loud.

“You know what-“

“Not everyone gets to know what you’re feeling all the time, Lena. Tony and Pepper can’t read your mind. MJ and Ned can’t read your mind. If you don’t say how you’re feeling, explain it, then…it’ll just kinda sit inside you and get worse.”

She pulled her goggles off, letting them hang from her wrist, “She would not stop saying how I was feeling. To me. She was using it as a weapon. I did not like it.”

“You didn’t like that she was going through your head? Don’t you do the same thing?”

“I do not weaponize it. They do not know that I can hear them. I can only hear them if they’re open to it. She can do it when she makes physical contact. It’s…disturbing. It was disrespectful.”

He pulled her back into a hug, and paused for a minute before speaking, “Thanos may be bad, but you are not. I don’t care that he created your species. I will always love you.”

She felt warm. Safe. After an afternoon of life-and-death, she finally had another moment to take a break.

Everyone else had occupied themselves with other activities. The man, who they discovered was from Earth, was commenting on the gravitational pull being off. The general way that this group of...beings carried themselves was aloof and careless as if nothing felt truly important to them. It was only at the mention of their missing friend that any of them seemed to actually feel an inclination towards a cause. They cared about the fate of the universe to an extent, but their priorities were set in keeping their found family together and alive. 

They all had something important to care about. 

Peter watched from a few feet away as the bug-person, Mantis, manipulated the gravity to work as her own trampoline. She could feel Peter’s desire to join her, the inner child of him just wanting to leap up in the air as high as he could possibly go.

_ No one is stopping you,  _ she said in his head.

_ I’m trying to keep it cool considering that Mr. Stark just made me an Avenger,  _ he responded. 

She chuckled,  _ you have been an Avenger for a long time now, Peter. _

They caught eyes, and she offered him a supportive smile. 

_ Yeah but now it’s like...official. _

“All right. I have a plan. Or at least the beginnings of one,” everyone started to regather around Tony as he was talking, “It’s pretty simple. We draw him in, pin him down, get what we need. Definitely don’t wanna dance with this guy. We just want the gauntlet.”

The large oaf-man yawned, and Lena felt the tick go off in Tony’s head. 

“Are you  _ yawning?” _

Lena looked at Peter,  _ Here we go. _

Tony got into the lecture, Drax firmly let him know when he stopped listening, and the man calling himself Starlord casually explaining that plans were not their strong suit, in fact,

“Not winging it isn’t really what they...do.”

“Uh, what exactly is it that they do?”

Mantis spoke with more misplaced confidence, which Lena still did not understand why they had so much of, “Kick names, take ass.” 

As the group continued to bicker, Lena could not help but let her attention slide away. When they came to an agreement, Lena would happily follow and do her part in the plan they all had a consensus on. For now, she had sensed a disturbance in the energy around her. Someone was not adding to the snarky comments that were flying around the small area they all inhabited.

Dr. Strange was hovering cross-legged above the ground, deep in… it was not thought. If he were deep in his own thoughts, she would have known. The gemstone that hung around his neck was glowing, His head was jerking rapidly from side-to-side in a blurred motion as if someone had pressed fast forward on a VCR tape. 

Mantis caught on to what she was seeing, and the cutting comments came to a halt. Tony followed Lena to where Dr. Strange hovered, neither of them saying anything for fear of disturbance, but when nothing more happened, Tony decided to interrupt.

“Strange! We all right?”

The doctor fell out of whatever trance he had put himself in and pitched forward, groaning in a small amount of pain. 

“You’re back,” Tony’s voice sounded comforting, which he usually didn’t offer to people he wasn’t fond of. “You’re all right.” 

“Hey, what was that?” Peter asked what everyone else was thinking. All attention had been averted.  
He was panting, “I went forward in time to view alternate futures. To see all the possible outcomes of the coming conflict.”

Lena felt her throat go dry, his tone of voice, the mental block that he was maintaining. He was hiding something from all of them, but especially her.

“How many did you see?” Starlord asked quietly.

“14,000,605”

“How many do we win,” Tony spoke gravely, not having an intense desire to know the honest answer.

There was a pungent pause, and then,

“One.” 

Lena had never felt so many people lose hope all at once. It was the way that most large, masculine men felt when it really sunk in that their favorite sports team was losing, except the fate of the universe rested in their hands. 

“Okay, but did you see what we did to help with that one good outcome?” Starlord asked, trying to boost the mood. It was a good question.

“Yes, and we need to follow the Missouri man’s idea,” Dr. Strange was looking at Tony, intensely, anticipating the backlash. 

“N-no. No. Not gonna happen. Absolutely no way. I’d rather have Parker develop a plan than-”

“Than me? Mr. Goddamn Lord? Maybe I  _ should  _ tell you guys about the dance to save the universe-”

“It’s what has to happen,” Dr. Strange sighed.

Lena looked into the Starlord’s head. He was a very open young man, which he probably was not aware of. So much of his time was spent trying to prove he was to best, little did he know that his heart was on his sleeve when it came to people like herself or Mantis. She was certain that Mantis would understand how easy he was to read. She should probably give talking to her an attempt…

She re-centered herself. If she could find a sound plan in his mind while they were all fighting about his incompetence, then maybe they would actually start moving forward.

Sorting through his traumatic childhood and complicated parental relationships, he found his line of thought relating to this Gamora person, which was the reason he was almost getting along with Tony, to begin with. All that he wanted was to save her, and he would do whatever he could to make that happen. 

She found it and almost shrieked with joy. It was an idea for a plan, a basic structure, and it was not completely bombastic. 

She hummed for a minute, gradually crescendoing it so that everyone in her vicinity could hear. After at least a minute, everyone had quieted down and were focusing their attention and eyes on her, minds practically blank with the siren song she had chosen to sing. Sighing, she let them out of her trance and made sure the gloss fell out of their eyes before she spoke. 

“Mr. Quill,” she had found his actual name in the depths of his mind, “Your idea is a good one. You can share it.”

“Okay, that was just about the creepiest thing I have ever been a part of-”

“If you will not then I will because it really is not too bad-”

“No! It’s my plan! I’ll explain it!” his ego took over for him.

He laid it out for them. 

All but Dr. Strange were to hide amongst the rubble of the planet. It would make him assume that he was the only one on the entire planet, having killed Thanos’s henchman and being unable to turn the ship around back to Earth. Thanos would think that he basically already had the Time Stone. When Thanos arrived, they would need to keep his hand from snapping and make sure that he was fully incapable of escaping them. If Mantis tried to subdue him with addition to Lena’s vocal trance, along with Peter’s webbing and Dr. Strange keeping his other hand pinned to the ground with his magic (“mystic arts!”). Then Tony and both the Peters would go after the gauntlet by pulling it off his hand. Then they would have a chance at maybe killing Thanos. It was a better chance than they had when he was wearing the gauntlet. 

After working out a few kinks, everyone agreed that the idea was not a bad one and that they would find a place to wait and hide until their adversary arrived. 

Lena approached Dr. Strange before trying to look for the ideal place she could hide. He was keeping something from her, and she did not like how intentional it felt. She knew that he did not intend on sharing it, but she was going to do everything she could to get it out of him. 

“I’m not going to tell you,” was the first thing he said when she came into his line of sight.

She frowned, “Why not?”

“Listen, Lena is it?” he rubbed his face, some of the shininess from sweat sliding off. “You can sing, and force me to tell you, but you have to know I can’t tell you what it is voluntarily,” he did not look at her directly, he just stared into the distance, maintaining that mental block that she desperately wanted to pull down.

“I do not trance allies unless it is for the common good,” she sighed, feeling a sharp pain in her ribs she had not noticed before, “And if it is better that I do not know…” she looked at him in the eyes, “then I do not know.”


	4. Chapter 4

It had been a few hours, and the inside of Lena’s suit was starting to cling to her from all the sweat building up. They had already engaged in physical combat, and now they were about to participate in more. When this was all over, and she was back in the safety of her room, she would be taking a long swim and spending a good amount of time in the shower. 

She had been sitting in solitude since her conversation with Dr. Strange, contemplating what could be so critical that she does not know. Lena had a great grasp of time, and a good understanding that things were messy and could change at the drop of a hat. Her entire life turned into that when Peter and Tony had found her.

What she was now realizing from herself is that she had developed a very human attachment to those around her. When she was living in the ocean, she did not bother with the wellbeing of those around her, because it was never an issue. Her sisters had never cared for her, and she did not care for them. Peter and Tony, it was different. They were her family. 

Was one of them going to die?

Panic struck her stomach. What if they all did not make it out of this? 

She had no idea when Thanos was showing, so she had to calm herself down as quickly as possible. She inhaled and exhaled slowly, from muscle memory, and reminded herself that she had a special capability that allowed her to see when people were hiding things from her. Dr. Strange could literally be not telling her something much broader than what was directly related to herself. 

That was what she was going to tell herself.

She shut her eyes for a moment, sitting in the calm she had created for herself, and then reopened them when she heard someone talking. 

She was hidden in a small area directly behind Dr. Strange. She wanted to see the being for herself when he arrived, but now in her hiding spot, she could only see his silhouette. He was large, hairless, and muscular. He did a good job looking like the threat that Tony was emphasizing that he was. 

As they spoke, something materialized around them. It was as if Thanos was changing the scene around them with just the wave of his hand. Lena’s eyes darted to it. On his fist rested a gold gauntlet with a set of jewels on the knuckles, some of them missing. One of them was just around Dr. Strange’s neck. The possession he had focused so hard on keeping safe, that he was willing to sacrifice everyone’s lives. 

She knew he needed to have the only good outcome just like everyone else. She reminded herself of that again, just to ease her anxieties. 

When she recollected her focus, the two were bickering about his intentions, about Thanos’s overwhelming power. Dr. Strange’s tone was sarcastic and unimpressed, but when she heard Thanos’s intentions, she understood why everyone had been trying to keep it from herself and Peter, and they had succeeded.

Thanos wanted to vanquish half of life in the universe, at random. He was referring to it as a benevolent act, rather than cruel. It was written all over him. This was an ambition that he had been going after for years, and now he was collecting the means to execute it, along with trillions of human, and apparently nonhuman lives. 

She wanted to throw up. How could someone like this  _ create  _ her species?

She heard the sound of Strange’s voice rising, and heard him fire up his...mystic arts. It was hard to focus on anyone else with Thanos now there. She thought she might have to hone in on him, but his aura was reverberating against the rubble of the planet around them. She knew it would be even worse when she tried to trance him. 

They had talked over the coms regarding more specifics, each man rattling off their different attack strategies. There was no way to predict how Thanos would react to any of those, so they formed a basic skeleton of an order with an obvious target: when the time was right, trance the enemy so they could pull off the gauntlet. 

She peered from out of her hiding spot, following their instructions to keep as hidden as possible for as long as possible, not letting him see her unless they had to. It was almost painful to sit out the fight, watching as they threw large, oversized objects, how each person delivered at least one blow to the titan’s head. At one point, Tony deployed bombs on him, and all the large thing needed to do was wave his hand, absorbing the infernal energy and redirecting it right at Tony. 

At one point, he chucked Peter right out of the way, which was when she decided to show herself. 

She sprinted into the action, sliding between Thanos’s widely set feet as the Starlord planted something on his back. When it deployed, she started to sing. 

She felt the world around her start to move more slowly, even she could feel the immense force of trance she was trying to fix on Thanos. When she lifted her eyes to see his face, she saw it, wrinkled and grape colored, looking back on her knowingly. Mantis dropped onto his shoulders, held his head, and attempted to subdue him even further. 

Around her was a flurry of shouts for instruction, but she maintained her focus. With Mantis keeping her hands around his skull, it opened up a small pathway for her to explore. It was a field of memories and thoughts that she could manage to grab from Thanos when he had his guard down, which apparently took two supernatural beings to make happen.

She saw the face of a little girl, looking not quite human. The most telling sign was that her skin was a vibrant green, but indications in her bone structure also hinted to her otherworldliness. For a moment, the small girl just stared at her, but then she transformed into her fully grown self, now falling off a ledge, Lena now peering over a cliff as if she had thrown her herself. 

The loss she felt in her gut was a tell to who had done it. 

Thanos had murdered his daughter for this mission. He had thrown her off a cliff to acquire the golden stone on his hand.

He thought he was grieving, but Lena could tell otherwise. It was an exchange of goods. No cause could be so worth the life of purposefully killing someone you love. 

_ But is that not what you were born to do? _

She heard a deep, ancient voice in the back of her head. 

_ Who… _

_ You know who I am.  _

He knew she was there. She continued singing, feeling her throat start drying. 

_ I created you to kill that one person you love. It has never been a difficult choice, and one day, Lena Potts, you will make that choice too.  _

She felt him walk away from their interaction, not knowing how he could do that on the plane of his own mind, and she got a better visual of what was happening in front of her. She was exhausted, the intensity of her trance made her want to vomit, but she watched through blurred vision as the Starlord man started talking to Thanos, rambling back to his Gamora person. 

The woman’s face flashed across her eyes, and she knew instantly. His daughter was Starlord’s Gamora. 

This was about to get a lot messier. 

It all broke apart at once. From what she could tell before she broke her focus was that the Starlord was punching Thanos, Tony needed to subdue him, and Peter almost had the gauntlet off when something crashed into Lena, taking Thanos all of a few seconds to regain all of his power. The gauntlet was back on his hand, and all bets were off once again. 

When she was finally able to peel herself from the ground, seeing that a large boulder had struck her somehow, again, she felt an ache in her chest full of missed opportunity. They had almost got it off.

She jogged back into the fight, where Peter had gone off to rescue Mantis, and three were already knocked out, unable to fight. Lena did what she felt was right, she propelled off the ground, her foot headed directly for Thanos’s face.

She never did reach it, though. 

The sharp sound of scissors, or a blade, rung out in her ears, and she felt herself falling directly onto the ground, knowing that Thanos had seen her coming and he had done something to make her pay for it. 

“You... _ seiren  _ always felt a connection to that hair of yours, and I have always wanted to see what would happen if it was all chopped off,” when Thanos spoke, it was as if he was no longer following the rules of time and space. 

“Get her out of the way, someone!” Tony yelled in the distance.

She felt her heart sink, knowing what he had done. 

She had read in an article for her homework that people had a tendency to not know they would miss something until they had already lost it. It came to be a common theme in modern American literature novels and movies. When she saw her reflection in a scrap of metal, she did not feel, only heard herself start to scream. 

Before, she had long blonde hair, tied in a ponytail, a reminder of her history and heritage. To her it symbolized a mark of beauty, it was the only thing she found beautiful about her own culture. 

The entire, multiple-foot-long tail of hair had been cut off, all that remained was unbeknownst to her. 

As Peter ripped her away from where Tony was about to go in for another attack, she could still hear herself screaming, but felt so detached that it did not feel like it was coming from her at all. 

That was the only part she had loved about where she came from, and he had violated it completely. It was all gone out of her control. She felt awful, dirty, uncomfortable. Part of her wanted to crawl out of her skin. He had taken away something that had rightfully belonged to her. 

Peter held her as more explosions went off. She tried to protest, tried to explain that they had to go back, they had to add more pressure, she only felt him subdue her.

“If Tony can’t stop him, then I think we’ll have more things to worry about.”

She looked up at him, his brown eyes concernedly looking down into hers. There was no doubt in his mind that they were going to come out as winners. To Peter, this was all surely set. There had not been a moment in his life where the Avengers could not save the day.

Peter’s idea of the Avengers had broken up a long time ago. Lena had never seen the entire group of heroes working side-by-side. To her, their future was not set in stone. 

What would happen if Thanos won?

_ We’ll win, L. Dr. Strange knows the good outcome, remember? _

She reached up at his face, knowing that she needed the distraction,  _ You’re right. _

_ Nice contraction,  _ he kissed her forehead. 

They looked over at Tony’s progress, and that is when Peter finally got back up.

“Don’t move.”

Thanos had his arm reaching towards the sky as the asteroids fell, in flames, onto the planet. The titan had summoned a moon as a form of attack. 

She could hear Peter as he desperately tried to cling to the members of their newly found group. The center of gravity was readjusting with Thanos’s moon stunt, and everyone appeared to be drifting in all sorts of directions. 

Getting up herself, she realized that she was putting herself in danger too and that Peter would understand why she needed to move. She blasted after him, following his trajectory through the maze of rock that was now drifting about the air. 

She felt her chest start to tighten up as they crashed back onto the ground and stumbled to get everyone back to safety. Pulling back Mantis as she rolled her over and quickly asked PET to check the vital signs, before recalling she was offline. She hesitantly took the mutant’s hand and found a steady pulse, not appearing to have too much damage from whatever Thanos had thrown at her. 

Lena was going to turn back to Peter when she felt someone take her by the wrist.

“You carry the good of your past on the inside more than you do the outside,” Mantis was speaking to her again in that creepy, ominous tone, “especially by loving him,” she nodded at Peter, who was frantically listening to see if Drax could breathe. Relief washed over him when he realized he could. 

She looked back down at Mantis, “I am sorry. For hitting you.”

Mantis smiled, her already large eyes widening farther, “That is how most people react to seeing me, anyway.” 

“Mr. Stark!” she heard Peter cry out before she had a chance to check if he was okay.

Tony was the one who was not okay. 

About a half-mile from where they were originally fighting, Tony keeled over, a sharp weapon impaling his side. She felt her eyes widen and remembered the grave look in Dr. Strange’s eyes.

Was this it?

They both started to run, to do anything they could to stop what they were seeing, but Thanos was going in for the final blow, and Lena could almost feel Tony completely give up when-

Dr. Strange.

“Spare his life…” he looked just as exhausted as everyone around him, “And I will give you the stone.” 

There was another short exchange, their running came to a surprising halt, and Lena watched as Dr. Strange handed over the time stone in order to save Tony Stark’s life. The last thing that Lena had anticipated him doing. 

_ For the good result to happen, Tony needs to live,  _ she said it to Peter only.

The glowing green stone floated out of the doctor’s hand, and into the hands of who they had been spending all this time to try and keep it away from. 

She lamented it. It had all been for nothing. Why all this work if Thanos ended up with the stone anyway?

When he put the stone n his gauntlet, it showed. The power coursed through him like it was blood, a sure signal that he was strong enough to wield it, along with the others. Lena felt her hope dissipate.

“One to go.” 

He was about to leave when a storm of fire came from an unknown source, and Lena continued to watch the last-ditch effort to stop Thanos before he vanished completely, his presence leaving the planet, and Lena’s head clearing completely.

“Did we just lose,” the Starlord’s face was dropping.

Tony, a mess of sweat and blood, agonizingly turned his face over to Dr. Strange.

“Why would you do that?”

  
  



End file.
